You learn new things every day. No really.

Now the benefits of anti-bacteral gels have been touted for quite some time, given the spread of the H1N1 virus. But what we didn’t know is that they apparently are a good ingredient in cocktails.

The BBC reports of a prison who have banned the alcoholic gels following the discovery of an intoxicated inmate. Supposedly a hospital has had the same problem of people drinking the gels.

Clearly some people really will do anything for a drink, but this isn’t recommended.

Full article here.

It’s nice occasionally to see some humanity in a world that can be as ruthless about things, particularly when it comes to doing business.

Pixar has had some of that to contend with, as its head man, a certain Steve Jobs, who is also CEO of Apple, has recently revealed that he had a liver transplant after suffering from pancreatic cancer.

And so, it’s nice to see that Pixar is also able to touch other peoples’ lives in their own special way, as OCregister.com reports.

Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.

From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.

After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.

Full report: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pixar-up-movie-2468059-home-show

They say Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

No, I’m not going mad about buffalos (although their steaks are nice, and Buffalo wings – which are made out of chickens, not buffalo, and are a specialty of Buffalo, NY – are also very nice).

In fact, "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is actually a grammatically correct sentence, an interesting fact that I stumbled upon on Wikipedia.

Stemming from three definitions of "buffalo" – one being an animal, one meaning to bully, and the third being the place – what it stands for is "[Those] buffalo(es) from Buffalo [that are intimidated by] buffalo(es) from Buffalo intimidate buffalo(es) from Buffalo."

So it all makes sense then? Good. I’m off to buffalo some Buffalo buffaloes (although they don’t actually exist).

For more details of this monotonic phrase, see here.

Ah, we hear about all the rivalry and competitiveness between different colleges and universities. But credit to Yale in 2005 for their inventiveness, as Wikipedia’s entry reports.

Michael Kai and David Aulicino, two Yale students from the Class of 2005, created and coordinated the plan. Disguised as the "Harvard Pep Squad," they and twenty classmates handed white and crimson placards to fans – mostly Harvard alumni, with a few faculty, students, and others – in the central area of the Harvard side of the stadium. The group told the crowd that by lifting the placards they would spell "GO HARVARD." The placards were actually arranged to spell "WE SUCK."

 

[Read more]

I’d go round to the nearby football club down the road to pull that stunt, but sadly, I doubt there’d be enough spectators.

Oh, the egos that esist in the banking sector. Apparently, it was a single trader who tipped the price of crude oil to over $100 a barrel, if only for a few seconds. As BBC News reports:

Last Updated: Thursday, 3 January 2008, 13:11 GMT

Single trader behind oil record

Open outcry trading is being replaced by electronic methods

 

The man behind the record rise in oil prices to $100 a barrel was a lone trader, seeking bragging rights and a minute of fame, market watchers say.

A single trader bid up the price by buying a modest lot and then sold it immediately at a loss, they said.

The New York Mercantile Exchange confirmed that US crude oil futures traded just once in triple figures.

But prices have since remained below that historic level and market analysts questioned the validity of the trade.

Vanity trade

Stephen Schork, a former floor trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the editor of an oil market newsletter, said one floor trader bought 1,000 barrels, the smallest amount permitted, and sold it immediately for $99.40 at a $600 loss.

"They absolutely overpaid," he told Radio Four’s Today Programme.

"He paid $600 for the right to tell his grandchildren that he was the first in the world to buy $100 oil."

Most trading in energy futures has shifted away from the trading floor and takes place on electronic platforms.

The NYMEX, along with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is one of the last bastions of "open outcry", where traders use frantic hand signals to trade securities.

In London, open outcry trading still takes place on the London Metal Exchange, where aluminium, copper and zinc are traded.

The supporters of electronic trading claim that it is faster, cheaper, more efficient for users, and less prone to manipulation by market makers.

The dwindling liquidity on the NYMEX trading floor has led to considerable speculation that the exchange will soon shut down the trading floor to cut costs.

 

Permalink: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7169543.stm